I've noticed for a few weeks now how my sister has been acting off. I know she was keeping something from me and I knew it had to do with my brother. But I never knew how far she was willing to go to hurt him. Planning to punish him for all the stupid ass decisions he has made, I understand.
But working with Marcel? I am not all that surprised, but it still is rock bottom. My sister must be pretty desperate. And the worst thing is that my sister would not even consider working with Marcel, unless they have a plan that can actually work. I have no idea what can keep my brother down, but I am not finding out today.
I walk into the quarter, and see a circle of vampires. Once I walk into the room, all their attention goes on me. All their judgmental eyes scanning me, and I am starting to question if they know who they are eyeing at the moment.
"Hey, who's there!" Marcel screams from the middle of the room.
The vampires then slowly open up a pathway for me to walk through. I happily walk through, and as I get further into the room, I see my brother in the center of this circle. He doesn't seem bothered at all; instead, he smiles at the sight of me. Surprise, surprise.
I then look across from him, and see my sister standing hand in hand with Marcel.
"Well, isn't this a sight for sore eyes." I cross my arms, looking between the two of them. I see the embarrassment flash across my sister's face, while Marcel's face turns angry.
"You said she was going to be busy all day." Marcel states at the corner of his mouth.
"That's because she was." Rebekah states.
"Technically, my sister is not wrong. I don't know if you realized but it is kind of late, so maybe you should have did your little...rebellion, a little earlier." I state.
Nik then starts to laugh, "Oh, this is just magnificent. At least someone in this family still has some common sense." He then grabs my arm, "By the way sister, I can handle this by myself."
"Your way of handling is fighting, and most importantly," I make him let go of my arm. "Killing."
He shrugs innocently, and I roll my eyes. I look back at Rebekah and Marcel. "Listen, I don't want any more bloodshed, especially between family. So I'm giving you the chance, right here and now, to back off."
"And why would we do that?" Marcel takes a step forward. "Bow down to the almighty Klaus? All my men would rather die than pledge allegiance to him."
"Well that can be arranged." Nik says with a smile. "If you want a fight, so be it."
"You see. That smile right there is exactly why we are not backing down." Marcel says angrily. Honestly, there is no point in trying to talk to Marcel; he is just as stubborn as my brother. So my attention goes to my sister.
"Really? You're not backing down either, Rebekah? You're going to choose Marcel over your own family." I claim, and Rebekah scoffs at me.
She takes a few steps closer, so she is at the same distance with Marcel. "I am choosing my own happiness, something Nik has taken away from me for far too long." She then turns to look Nik in the eye. "So no, I am not backing down."
"I think they have said their peace, Kalle." Niklaus states, but I ignore him.
"Oh my god, this is crazy! You probably couldn't even stand a chance against Niklaus by himself. But with me by his side you know that is basically a death wish."
"Last time I checked, you don't kill. Or have your morals shifted as well?" Marcel questions, and I start to get angry.
"Marcel, for the love of bloody hell, I am trying to help you-"
Niklaus then starts pulling me back, "That is enough, sister. If it is a fight they want well...then that is what they will get."
"This is ridiculous." I walk away from my brother, but I don't go far.
"Unless! Someone wants to join me." He then takes out a coin from his pocket. "To borrow a trick, from an old friend, whoever picks up this coin...gets to live." Nik drops the coin on the floor.
"Nik..."
"And to make it more fair, my sister will not fight." Niklaus states, and my eyes widen at him. "I mean, Marcel is right about one thing: she doesn't kill. No use for me right now."
"You are really making it hard to be on your side right now." I say frustrated, but he walks past me.
"So, which of you magnificent ones wants to join me?" Niklaus asks, and I start to question why I even try with him sometimes. We wait, as no one even tries to walk towards the coin. They all seem set on taking Nik out.
Even after Marcel declares they can easily take the coin, no one does. I try to give Nik one last pleading look, but he doesn't listen. I look at my sister, and she seems just as determined. One thing I have learned with my siblings is that when they have conflicts, they need to get that frustration out. So my peaceful negotiations are not going to work.
"You know what, go nuts." I state, backing away from Nik.
"Take him." Marcel declares and two vampires go speeding at Nik, but he quickly breaks the bones and snapping their necks as if it was child's play.
I can already tell this is not going to end well. But, I had a part B if talking did not go as planned. I kind of figured my brother would want to do things his own way as well, but I did not actually think he would go against hundreds of vampires by himself.
He gets some hits in, and starts killing a few of them, but they eventually get the upper hand and chain him down. I let him do this by himself just so he can get a little beating. He has been pretty reckless recently and we all know he deserves this, and even if he doesn't want to admit it, he knows he deserves this as well.
I watch as all the vampires close in on my brother, and they repeatedly beat on him. My sister and Marcel as well move in closer to watch. And while they focus on Nik, I start plan B.
Without saying a word, I start to give the vampires in the room a painful aneurism. I feel the blood rushing through the veins, and I make contact with it. The angrier, the easier it is to make them fall down to their knees and beg for mercy.
It slowly makes its way around the room, and the vampires start to scream in anguish. While I have half of the vampires in the palm of my hand, Nik is still taking care of the rest.
Rebekah and Marcel both turn around to face me, and Marcel looks ready to kill me.
"What happened to staying out of it?" Marcel questions, angry.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember ever making that conclusion." I say with a smile, but I watch as Marcel's eyebrows furrow in anger.
I then start to feel uneasy. I feel something coming for me I feel...I feel like the grim reaper is lurking over my shoulder. My heart starts to pound, and I look at Marcel. Then I notice why I feel this way.
Marcel is about the snap my neck, I can sense it. But everywhere around me stopped moving. It's like the world stopped moving and I'm the only one who is here.
It's because I am two seconds from being dead. Marcel does not know, nobody knows about my condition. I would usually be more alert, but I was focused on the hundreds of other vampires in the room. Or maybe I just have not been this close to death in a while, that I have been off my game.
But it doesn't matter. He's inching closer to me, and I can feel this is the end. There is nothing I can do that will push him away. He's too fast, especially when he is angry. None of this would be happening if I just told them from the beginning. And I was just coming to terms with my fate.
Maybe this is just how it all ends...
.
.
.
.
.
.
Wait, am I still alive? I don't feel dead and I can still see everyone. I can...wait, I can't. I can't sense anyone's presence. I can barely feel my magic. I can't feel any part of my body. It feels like...it feels like I am in my head and don't have control over my own body.
Time to rest.
What? Hello? Who is that?
Go to sleep.
Who the hell are you? What... what are you doing to me?
I feel so weak...
I can't... I can't do anything.
I don't see anything...
All I see...is darkness.
I open my eyes, feeling my body and the control I have returned. I look down at my fingers and see them move. I feel a sense of relief wash over me.
I have no idea what happened. Did I pass out? I must have, or I would not be sleeping on my old bed in the quarter.
Or maybe it was all a bad dream because that feeling just felt like a terrible nightmare. How did I just loose all consciousness in my body? I made no contact with no one and there was no witch in sight.
I am thinking about a thousand possibilities, but none of them will make a difference. Figuring out what happened to me won't do me any good right now. I need to know what happened between my siblings and Marcel. Whether Nik or Rebekah got their way, I know that this will not end well for our family, and I should brace myself for the chaos.
I walk out of my room, and once I reach the door, I see everything. On the bottom floor, there is a line of bodies, and they are all covered. At least fifty of Marcel's men just died. I wanted to avoid this, but my brother always needs to make a scene.
I see some of Marcel's men, the one who is always standing by his side, covering the rest of the desiccated bodies. Along side him are some of Marcel's other men that are looking at the fallen bodies. They are all holding bottles of liquid, pouring it onto the bodies. And across from me, I see Marcel watching all of this.
Under my better judgment, I decide that I should give Marcel my condolences. I never wanted this to happen and even though it was inevitable with him challenging my brother, I know he cared. That's one thing I will always value from Marcel and that is he will always fight for someone he loves or cares about. Loosing some of his men like this must be painful.
"Hey..." I state, and Marcel looks at me with a face of anger I have never seen before. If you wanted to know what the devil's face looked like, this would be a pretty close description.
"Kalle, if I were you, I would walk away right now. I am not in the mood." Marcel says angrily.
"Look, I am not here for a fight."
"Really!" he screams, "Because it did not look like that earlier."
Maybe this was a bad idea. I try to take a step a little closer, "Okay look-" He glares at me, and I don't take another step closer. "I get why you angry and I am sorry about your men, but I specifically warned you what would happen with my brother."
"Klaus was not the only one involved."
"Okay, I did hurt a few of your men, but that was after you decided to try to capture Nik."
"You backed off!"
"Right, like I was going to listen to my brother's terms and let him fight this battle on his own." I cross my arms, and Marcel glare intensifies on me. He then looks away with that same glare. "I understand why you are mad and why you feel the need to be angry with me, but I did nothing wrong. All I did was protect my family, from you. And I may have hurt a few of your vampires but I didn't kill anyone."
Marcel then turned to face me, squinting his eyes at me. "What?"
I look at him curiously, "Exactly what I said, I didn't kill any of your men. This massacre is due to Klaus."
"Is this a joke? What the hell are you talking about?"
"What are you talking about? I repeated myself twice, can you not hear properly or did that fight ruin your ears as well." Marcel angrily starts walking up to me, but Rebekah vamps speeds in front of Marcel, so she is a border between the two of us.
"You really want to me fight me as well?" Rebekah declares, and Marcel moves back frustrated. What was that about? "Hands off my sister."
"'Hands off your sister'- SHE'S TO BLAME FOR THIS!" Marcel screams at the top of his lungs, but I am not startled in the slightest. Instead, I start walking towards him.
"I need you to calm down before I actually start to get pissed off." Rebekah then turns to face me and stops me from walking. She looks mad as well, so I just stand from here. "I already told you that I did not do anything so you should back off before-"
"Before you what, try to kill me?" Marcel claims and I completely become lost.
"Okay, what the hell are you talking about?" I ask, but it just makes him angrier.
"Listen, if you don't start owning your shit and stop lying-"
"She's not," Rebekah states, and I turn to face her. She does not look mad anymore; instead, she looks worried.
"Of course she is lying-"
"No." Rebekah turns so she can see both Marcel and me. "She doesn't know."
"Know what?" I ask.
"How do you know that she doesn't know. She could be just lying and just-" Marcel starts and Rebekah cuts him off.
"Look at her face! You and Kalle may not be each other's favorites but you know how my sister looks when that happens. Does that look like a face of dried up tears, or stress, or guilt?"
Guilt?
Marcel analyzes my face and tries to put on his angry face. Then he starts looking at me closer and his anger starts to go away. "Wait, you're being serious?"
I narrow my eyes at him, "Did I miss something? I assumed Nik killed all these people after I passed out."
Rebekah and Marcel share a look, before looking at me again. Another weird thing. "Kalle, when do you remember passing out?"
"Um...I just got involved in the fight..and I remember Marcel coming at me, but then I passed out." I explain. Rebekah's eyes widen at me, while Marcel stares at me curiously and I feel like I am missing a big chunk of the story here. The last time I've seen her look this worried was when we couldn't find Elijah but I don't understand why she would feel this way right now.
Unless...I look down to the bodies. Marcel seemed really furious with me, like I had just killed someone he loved.
"Hold on. Did I do this?"
"No." Rebekah immediately states. Her face shows that she is telling the truth, so I try to calm myself down. I am just being ridiculous because I passed out. There would be no reason for me to be involved in this. But, that still doesn't explain everything.
"Okay, so why does Marcel look like he wants to pop my head off?" I ask.
"Trust me, I have the same look for your brother." Marcel claims.
"But he actually did something to you." I state, and his eyes shift to Rebekah again. "Hey, enough with the secret glances, tell me what's going on."
I turn Rebekah around to face me. She looks at me solemnly for a moment, before nodding. She then turns around to whisper something in Marcel's ear, and he becomes so calm that you could not even tell he was furious with me a minute ago.
Men.
"Let's go, I'll tell you when we get back home." Rebekah says, as we walk away from Marcel.
"Why not on our way there?" I questioned.
"Because our brother is waiting at home for me with a dagger and I would really like to make it through the night before telling you anything." Rebekah explains, and I realize Nik is not here anymore. He must have gone home after everything, and my sister needs my help. Anything else can wait.
"Okay, let's go."
On the entire ride back home, it was filled with silence. I have so many questions about what just happened and why everyone is being secretive about it. My sister has not looked in my direction this entire car ride, but I have not been making much of an attempt to look towards her either.
There is so much we need to talk about, and we need to discuss it all as a family. So, until we are all in the same room, I won't say a word. Which means I have to keep Nik from putting Rebekah in a box until Elijah returns.
We arrived at the house a few minutes later, and I noticed a car that was not there this morning.
"Elijah's back." Rebekah states, and I nod. She finally looks towards me. "Is that good or bad?"
I take a deep breath and turn to face her. "I guess we're about to find out."
We both nod and slowly get out of the car. I walk towards the door, with Rebekah trailing behind me. Once I open the door, I don't see anyone down here.
"They're both upstairs." Rebekah stated nervously, as she looks at the stairs. I grab her hand.
"We will face Niklaus together." She nods at me, and we make our way upstairs. Hand in hand, we walk to Nik's room. The door is open, and I see Nik staring out the window. He's not moving a single inch, and I cannot imagine what is going through his head.
I know he feels betrayed right now, but the fact he has not said a word to either of us, knowing that we are both here, is what scares me the most. I know I said Nik can be pretty predictable when he's angry, but when he's betrayed, it can go anywhere with him.
Rebekah walks towards the room, but I stop her.
"Don't." I pull her back, and she looks at me curiously. "Let me talk to him; you go get Elijah."
"What happened to what you said literally a minute ago? Facing him together?"
"Well, that's before I realized it's Nik we're dealing with and we need as much enforcement as possible. Get Elijah; I'll be fine." I state, and Rebekah looks into the room one more time before leaving.
I take a deep breath and slowly walk into the room. Now that I am closer, I see him holding the dagger in his hands. Okay, I've got this.
"Wise of you to tell her to get Elijah." Nik states.
"Well, it was that or you stabbed her with that dagger in your hand, no?"
"And now you're leaving me with the decision on whether to dagger her or Elijah." Nik turns around, with a solemn face. "If anything, you are giving up Elijah."
"I'm not giving up anyone." I say with confidence. His demeanor is not going to rattle me. "We're family, Nik."
"Wow, correct if I am wrong sister but I did not know family coerced with the enemy." Nik then starts walking around and playing with the dagger. "At least you have not betrayed me...yet."
"Okay, I know you are not including the mother of your child as an enemy."
"She accused me of having ill intentions for MY child!" Nik yells as he points the dagger at me, but I stand still. "In my book, that is the same as trying to put me under ground for a few decades."
"Marcel and Hayley are not the same." I claim, and my brother starts walking in circles again. "And back to our siblings, you can't really blame them. I mean, after all you have put them through, is it really a surprise they will side with your ...enemies?" I say hesitantly as I know Hayley is not our enemy.
Nik starts to laugh, while twirling the dagger in his hands. I look him up and down curiously, but then he turns to fully face me. "How are you feeling, sister?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, after what just happened, I am surprised you're up giving me a lecture about our family. I am surprised you can even function right now." Niklaus states.
"Oh great, you not going to tell me what happened either?" I question irritated.
"Wait, Rebekah didn't say?" I shake my head no. "Well, this will be interesting. Speaking of our siblings..."
I turn around to see Rebekah and Elijah standing at the door. They stand side by side, Rebekah seeming more confident than she was before, and Elijah locking eye contact with Niklaus.
"I believe we are due for a conversation." Elijah claims.
"Conversation...right, you mean the betrayal of my family." Niklaus corrects angrily. "You know, I was in the mood for playing a little game...of enney, meany, miney...mo."
Nik then quickly grabs Rebekah from Elijah's side and holds her by the throat, with the dagger at her chest. "My own sister... betrayed me! My own blood..."
"Niklaus, let her go." Elijah demands. Nik easily lets her go, and she comes to stand by my side.
Nik starts point the dagger at Elijah. "Or perhaps maybe you brother. You have been so engulfed with Hayley that you are blinded by her tricks." Elijah is not frighten, and then Nik turns to face me, and I am a little confused. "Or, maybe you Kalle."
"Me? What did I do?"
"You think I don't know you're the reason Josh is no longer under my control? That's why you went to Davina last night, no?" Niklaus claims, as he holds the dagger at me.
"I mean, yes, but.."
"And all that talk about how our siblings had motives to betray me, how do I not know you were planning something yourself?" Nik states, and I get aggravated.
"Right, because I came there and saved your ass. Because I am plotting against you." I sarcastically state.
"And where were you before you arrived? I would be wise about what you say because, after everything that has been going on, you wouldn't have just disappeared for a quick spell session with Davina or a quiet day to yourself. No, you were up to something that you considered more important than your family." Niklaus then starts walking towards me and points the dagger at my chest.
"Why does it matter?" I state without hesitation, and he smiles at me.
"You really believe I forgot about what happened with Agnes and what she said?" Niklaus states, and I start to get worried. I was honestly hoping he had forgotten. "Now, what was it? Something about your powers... no. Well, not specifically. It was something of more importance."
"Nik."
"Ah, now I remember. She said that you...were no longer immortal." Niklaus states. I can feel eyes from all my siblings turning to face me, but I just stare at my brother in anger. He has no remorse, no sadness in his voice when he said that. Almost as if he did not care at all. "So, why don't you explain that to us, because I am still curious myself."
"What is he talking about?" Rebekah asks me, and I see the intense glare coming from Elijah too.
I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down from the anger I feel for Niklaus. He's just trying to aggravate me. But no matter. I needed to tell them anyway.
"I um...I recently found out how I am immortal. When I got stabbed with the white oak stake, I always wondered why I did not die. And now I know it's because my death was not sealed by that white oak, it was sealed by something else...my twin brother."
Everyone looks at me confused, and even Niklaus lowers his guard for a moment.
"What does Kol have to do with this?" Elijah questions.
"Long story short is mother did something different to me when I turned immortal, compared to you guys. But my life, it was linked to Kol's. So it did not matter what happened to me, I could be burning for a lifetime and still not die...until Kol did."
"And now Kol's dead," Rebekah states.
"Which means I no longer carry immortality. I'm mortal now." I explain.
"No. No, this can't be happening." Rebekah states repeatedly. I look at Elijah who has barely said a word, and he cannot seem to come up with one.
"Well, brother, seems like your perfect family is already falling apart." Niklaus states, and we all look at him as if he is crazy.
"Are you being serious right now?" Rebekah questions.
"Are we honestly believing this? Our revengeful dead mother is obviously trying to get into our sister's head to make us believe this is true." Niklaus explains confidently. "I mean what actual proof do-"
"I spoke to Ayana," I state, and they turn their attention back to me.
"Ayana... as in-" Elijah states.
"Our Ayana. I meant to speak to our mother, but somehow reached her instead. And she told me the same thing mother did. This is real, I'm not immortal anymore. And before any of you ask... there's no loophole around it." I say in a solemn voice, and this is the first time I actually see a hint of sadness in Nik's eyes.
"How can there not be a loophole? There always is one in magic." Rebekah states, and I shake my head.
"Not this time." I explain to her, then face Nik again. "That's what I was doing today. I was trying to find a way around this so I could still be around in the next hundred years. That's why I've been so secretive and not any other one of you stupid conspiracies."
Nik then slowly walks away from me, and his eyes widen at me. "That's why you went void on us earlier, because you were going to die if Marcel snapped your neck."
I look at him confused, but see his eyes glance towards Elijah. I look at Elijah and he looks petrified right now. I figure he is surprised by what I just said, but I think he is more frightened by what came out of Nik's mouth.
"Void Kalle? Wait are you talking about what just happened?" Rebekah asks and I look at her confused as well.
"What are the both of you talking about? When did this happen?" Elijah questions eagerly, and I feel he is more concerned than I am.
"She lost control and doesn't remember once again." Niklaus explains, and my focus is back on him.
"What do you mean, again?" I demand, not ask.
"I believe you have to ask Elijah. He's the one who wanted to keep this a secret in the first place." Niklaus states, and I feel myself getting angry again. I am not sure what the hell is going on, but I am damn sure I am not going to like the answer.
I turn to Elijah, and cross my arms at him. "Talk, now."